This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
Real reviews by real skiers. What a concept! Add your own today. Reviews only please, questions can be posted as replies but new threads looking for opinions should be posted to the main Telemark Talk Forum.
And that's an "elf" from Scandinavian stock too. Like wtf?!?!
I CAN get her to stand on them but i have them on teleturnaround listed as "new in plastic". If they don't sell to the party interested I'll pull them and mount them for her i think. At the very least if they don't work for her I'll have some short fast bushwacking skis for myself if I laid off the beers for a few months. Thanks all for the help
Getting these in 210 last year extended my ski season in SouthEast B.C. by a couple of weeks. They were also a no-brainer to grab as it got warmer and waxing became a little more difficult to get right. At 215 pounds they’re not what I’d consider a great ski flotation wise but I had zero traction issues kicking.
I have them mounted with Xplore- the boots I used last season were way too much for these skis (Fischer Transnordic), I anticipate the Alpina Pioneer Tech I just received to be a bit more suitable. I think the Alpina Alaska XP or Alpha Vista would be plenty of boot for this ski if going Xplore.
I’ve got several pairs of skis to play with this season but I think these are versatile enough that they’ll see a lot of opportunity for playtime.
Much past 200# skier weight and it’s hard to find a ski out there with adequate float. Looking at military skis showed pretty much “ski walking” for guys carrying a pack and weapons. Seems to be the same for really big guys on Hoks too.
Maybe that’s the allure of a pulk… don’t need a radically different ski or length because the weight is in the pulk. Move 40# off the skis and into the pulk and going might be a lot easier. How come? Moving up a size or two in skis isn’t possible in most brands. The largest ski in most brands are marketed for use by “90 kg and up”. (90 kg = 198 lbs)
We see elsewhere that the spread between ski sizes covers about 20 lbs-10 kg. So a “90 kg and up” means that the ski probably maxes out at 100 kg or 225 lbs. Why? Because the ski, no matter what the rating, shares the exact same construction materials of its shorter brothers. (Look it up for your favorite brand)
That 225 lbs is full up weight. So subtract 10 lbs or so just for boots and clothing… so we’re talking about 215 lbs being the max for such a ski… or 205 lbs if a daypack + water is carried.
None of this changes with Hoks, which are popular with big guys. Due to their limited length, even the longest available Hoks have about the same weight bearing capacity as a the longest available Voile Endeavor. (Actually, the Endeavor has marginally greater surface area). The Hoks are much shorter and wider but the surface area is the same. The only trade off is that the proportions facilitate balance and manoverability. But weight bearing capacity in soft snow? No difference because that’s an issue of ground pressure… weight/surface area.
So what happens with big guys? The same thing that happens to fully loaded soldiers. The skis are fully compressed when there’s limited weight transfer going on. Get that side to side transfer going like you would aggressively touring and the weight on each ski during the kick phase and some of the glide phase fully compresses the pocket. So “ski walking” or “ski shoeing” (which is a term used by Altai in its product description of the Hok) becomes the order of the day.
A ski that is fully compressed during the glide phase won’t glide. It will grip because the pocket (wax or scales) are in full contact with the snow.
What’s stopping ski manufacturers from offering longer lengths (more surface area)? Tradition and the economy behind demographics. It sure as heck isn’t shipping length, as even FedEx allows packages up to 274 cm long (so a 250 cm ski + protective packaging is possible).
These skis are super fun and sooo convenient when the temperatures are close to 0 Celsius- no waxing concerns 👍
Spent a few hours cruising single track and consolidated with a couple inches of fresh powder. Effortless and enjoyable. Definitely not making any kind of speed record up or down with them but not struggling either. When I gained elevation and it got deeper and cooler I started wishing for Gamme to some extent but still enjoyed what I had going on.
I just ordered international from Europe. What bindings are people running? Im seeing everything from nnnbc to regular nnn. I want to keep mine light, so I will probably go nnn. Screw on or plate system?
I just ordered international from Europe. What bindings are people running? Im seeing everything from nnnbc to regular nnn. I want to keep mine light, so I will probably go nnn. Screw on or plate system?
With the fixed skin you can't really use kick wax to adjust grip, so it is nice to have a binding that moves. I have the older style where you have to take off your ski and use a key. It would be nice to be able to bend down and do it, even while moving.
Id really like to be able to mount a plate and then swap between nnn and nnnbc, i know i could us binding freedom, but an adjustable plate would be pretty sweet(imo).
